How Much Time Does Homeschooling REALLY Take?!?

For some reason, that I've yet to really figure out why, people are under the impression that homeschooling takes up ALL your time.  Perhaps it's because public school does just this that folks naturally assume homeschooling will too?  This is really the only plausible reason that I've been able to come up with but even that answer seems a bit silly and outdated to me.

Here's the reality.  Homeschooling takes as long as you want it to take.  Period.

For those of you knee deep in it, you KNOW that homeschooling is more about a lifestyle and less about a formal education.  Homeschoolers have this unique ability to turn every single thing into a learning opportunity.  No joke.  Every.  Single.  Thing.  So I suppose that one could say that homeschooling takes a lifetime.

Let's just get serious about this question, that is why you're reading this blog post is it not?

In the early years, homeschooling is all about PLAY.  Seriously, this is literally ALL YOU NEED TO DO.  Play and be active, read, take walks and just be engaged with your child.  Dare I say, all the way up to 1st grade doesn't really need much of anything formal.  Children learn through play and this is exactly what's happening in the younger years.  Just relax, embrace it and have fun mmkay...

The middle grades are tough.  This is currently where we are at in our homeschooling journey and truth be told- the struggle is real y'all.  The math is harder, the resistance has grown and sometimes your up to your eyeballs in suck.  But even at this point, there's still plenty of PLAY, friends, the dreaded "socialization" and yes- even some actual schoolwork.  However, can I just tell you that once you hit the middle years- your coasting on quality work and NOT quantity work.  I would much rather spend 30 minutes on one concept and have the kiddo really learn it and understand it, then do 3 hours of busy work.  Busy work is bullshit y'all.  Don't waste your time or your kid's time.

Here's my tip for these middle years- pick and choose people.  Pick and choose.  What do you feel is important for your child to learn?  What activities are necessary for them?  Narrow it down because there is no way on God's green earth that you can possibly teach ALL THE THINGS and your kids have no interest in doing this.  So just stop.  Remember- BUSY WORK IS BULLSHIT.  So figure your business out mmkay and just focus on the things that you find important and necessary.

For us- this is math.  Gah but I freakin' hate math.  And so does the kiddo...but he's expressed a big interest in engineering, building and science and without math he will never be able to pursue his passion.  In addition, we also spend quite a bit of time on history, politics, the world around us, and community service.  It might sound like a lot but we just break this down into smaller units and we've accomplished our goals fairly quickly.


Several hours tops at this age.  For ALL THE THINGS.  I'm talking outside classes and work at home.  We make sure to leave plenty of down time and yes, time to socialize.

Well now we've found our way to the high school years.  I can't fully answer this question for you because we aren't there yet.  I can tell you that my high school years sucked because they were FULL of busy work and I seriously don't think that I retained a single thing from all those wasted years.  Except of course how to write my Mom's signature and get out of taking any type of science class ever.

I imagine that we will approach high school exactly as we have approached all the years before.  Relaxed, confident and a big emphasis on child led learning.  Listen to your kids people and follow their direction.  There is no place that this applies MORE than in these high school years.  Allow them to create their own path and trust in them that they know what that path may be.  At this point, I would imagine that you are simply the FACILITATOR.  You provide help on school work when needed, you find classes and get them registered, you support them in their goals and you are there when needed.  Seems easy enough to me.

OK.

So....how much time does homeschooling really take?!?

Well the answer to that one is complex.  If you approach homeschooling as a lifestyle, then it takes all your time without you really noticing.  If you approach it like a replica of public schooling, then I imagine it takes however long you want to spend doing it.  The early years are all about playtime, the middle years are for focusing on quality not quantity and the high school grades are for facilitating your children's goals and dreams.

For us, we spent maybe 20 to 30 minutes per day on formal learning when the kiddo in preschool and kindergarten.  And when I say "formal" this simply refers to reading, simply addition/subtraction and maybe some fun "learning" videos.  Clearly really casual mmkay...  The rest of this time was structured play and free play.  We also went to the local library, to music in the park, daily walks, field trips to zoo's and museums etc.  We spent time in the outside world.  As he has gotten older, the formal learning time has evolved and increased.  We are now up to an average of 2-3 hours each day with plenty of time left for activities and simply being a kid.  This doesn't factor in time spent playing Minecraft or bike riding- this is simply SIT DOWN AT A TABLE AND LEARN IN A FORMAL SETTING type of homeschool.  Some days we fall short of this time frame while others we far exceed it.  It simply depends on what it happening on any given day.  I imagine as the kiddo reaches the high school years, we will probably be at 3-4 hours each day of formal learning.  But y'all- I really don't see it going much beyond that.  In fact, this number might even decrease and I'm pretty OK with that.  Quality NOT quantity, remember?

The final answer?

It takes NO time at all because when you follow the path you desire, time doesn't matter.  Homeschooling is a way of life and you are constantly learning and growing.  It's organic and not forced, it happens in the every day.  So just relax and try not to worry so much about a timeframe.  Embrace the process mmkay...you got this.